Sign



Feb. 10, 1959 w. c. HOLCOMB 2,872,750

SIGN

Filed Sept. 9, 1957 Y JIEZ INVENTOR.

3'54 WILL/5 c, HOLCOMB JIE. 2 BY and 32 are hooked on the rivets.

United States Patent O SIGN Willis C. Holcomb, Kettering, Ohio Application September 9, 1957, Serial No. 682,875

8 Claims. (Cl. 40-125) This invention relates to a sign and more particularly to a frame for holding a sign, the frame being demountable.

In various types of businesses signs are used usually for advertising purposes or for conveying information, as is Well known to those skilled in the art. Some of these are erected on what might be referred to as a temporary basis, in that when they serve their purpose, they are removed possibly to another location. An illustration of this is the real estate business, advertising properties for sale or for rent, and the construction business, such as road construction, where temporary signs are mounted for directing the trafiic.

An object of this invention is to provide signs and the frame therefore, the frame being easily assembled and disassembled and so constructed and arranged that when the frame is diassembled it can be stored in a very small space. This permits the loading of a number of signs in a small compact area, the signs per se being stacked and the frames being nested together.

Other objects and advantages reside in the construction of parts, the combination thereof, the method of manufacture and the mode of operation, as will become more apparent from the following description.

In the drawings, Figure 1 discloses a perspective view of a sign.

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantially on the section line 22 of Figure 1.

, Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing one end of the sign'and its frame.

" Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of one end of a cross member or bar.

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of one end of another cross member or bar.

Figure 6 is an end view of an auxiliary sign piece.

This sign consists broadly of a frame 10 and a sheet material sign 12. The frame 10 consists of two upright channel-shaped members or posts 14. These may be made from sheet metal, the channel of one being directed towards the channel of the other. A plurality of rivets 16, 18 and extend through the channels of each upright member 14 and are fixedly secured in position. The upper end of the channels are provided with holes, there being one hole in each channel.

The frame also consists of three horizontal members or cross bars 30, 32 and 34. The horizontal members 30 The lowermost member 30, which also may be channel-shaped, with the channel directed downwardly, is provided with an angular or diagonal slot 36 in each end thereof, as clearly shown in Figures 3 and 4. In order to insert member 30 so that the rivets 16 are seated in top of the notches or slots 36, it is necessary to place the bar 30 at an angle, as shown in dot-dash lines in Figure 3, with respect to the post 14 such that the longitudinal axes of the post 14 is substantially parallel to the slot 36. The ends 38 of member 30 are cut at an angle so as to permit the hook to pass over the rivets 16. By this arrangement the bar 30. cannot be removed without disassembling the bars 32 and 34 so as to permit each of the posts 14 to be moved in proper angular relation with respect to the notches 36, to permit removal of the bar 30.

The horizontal bars 32 are provided with a vertically disposed notch 40 in each end thereof, this notch 40 straddles the rivets 18 and 20. By providing two closely spaced rivets, the notches and rivets co-operate to hold the posts substantially at right angles to the bar 32 and to hold the posts parallel to each other. The bar 32 is also channel shaped, and is provided with a channel directed upwardly so as to receive the lower margins of this sign 12.

The sign 12 may be a sheet metal sign, a card board sign or a sign made from any suitable sheet material. It is inserted from the top into the channels of the posts 14 and downwardly so as to be seated in the upwardly directed channel of the bar 32.

When this is completed, the bar 34, which is also channel-shaped, the channel being downwardly directed, is inserted across the top of the sign, the ends of the bar 34 being provided with holes registering with the holes in the top of member 14. Suitable screws 42 are passed through the holes so as to hold the bar in position on the posts or uprights 14. The upper margin of the sign 12 is preferably positioned in the channel of the horizontal cross bar 34.

The lower end of the posts are pointed, so that it is a comparatively easy matter to push the posts into the ground. The lower bar 30 may be used similar to a rung upon which a person may place his foot to force the uprights or posts 14 into the ground.

This sign is easily assembled and easily disassembled. When the sign has served its purpose it may be removed, dismantled, stored or moved to another location. making all of the frame members, that is, the posts 14, the bars 30, 32 and 34 out of the sheet metal formed into a channel shape, the frame is light and, at the same time, sturdy and dependable. Although the posts and bars have been referred to as sheet metal, these could be made out of any other suitable material, such as extruded metal or plastics.

For many purposes the same sign 12 may be used in connection with various advertisements. For example, the sign 12 may contain the name, address and telephone number of a realtor. The auxiliary sign 44 is interchangeable, in that it consists of an inverted U-shaped thin sheet placed over the upper edge of the sign 12 and projecting into the downwardly'directed channel of the channel bar 34. The sign 44 is selected from a group of signs, such as For Sale," Open, For Lease, Sold, et cetera.

. First a For Sale sign may be used. Then, when the property is open for inspection, the For Sale sign is replaced with the sign Open by merely removing the screws 42 and removing the bar 34 and replacing the bar 34 and the screws 42 after interchanging the For Sale sign for the Open sign. When the property has been sold, the Sold sign may be used, all without changing the main sign 12.

Although the preferred embodiment of the device has been described, it will be understood that within the purview of this invention various changes may be made in the form, details, proportion and arrangement of parts, the combination thereof and mode of operation, which generally stated consist in a device capable of carrying out the objects set forth, as disclosed and defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A demountable frame assembly for displaying a sheet material sign, said frame including a pair of channel posts extending vertically, the channels being directed towards each other, a plurality of rivets mounted in the posts, one of the rivets in each post being located in Patented Feb. 10, 9

spaced relation to two other rivets arranged one above the other in close relation to each other, a plurality of cross bears, one of said cross bars having diagonally disposed notches in each end thereof, said notches being positioned on said one rivet in each post, the diagonal notch preventing removal of the bar due to the diagonal notches when the posts are parallel to each other, a second bar having a vertically disposed notch near each end thereof, said notches in the second bar being seated upon said two closely spaced rivets, a third channel bar having the channel directed downwardly with the upper margin of the sign projecting upwardly into the channel of the third bar, and means for removably attaching the third bar to the posts.

2. A demountable frame assembly-according to claim 1, wherein an auxiliary inverted U-shaped sign selected from an assortment of U-shaped signs is hooked over the top of the sheet material sign with the bight of the inverted U-shaped sign located in the channel of the third bar.

3. A demountable frame assembly for displaying a sheet material sign, said frame including a pair of vertically extending posts, at least one of said posts being a channel post, the channel being directed towards the other post, a plurality of rivets mounted in the channel post, one of the rivets being located in spaced relation to two other rivets arranged one above the other in close relation to each other, a plurality of cross bars, one of said cross bars having a diagonally disposed notch in one end thereof, the notch sloping out to one edge of the bar and away from the end of the bar, said notch being positioned on said one rivet of the channel post, the diagonal notch preventing removal of the bar when the bar extends at right angles to the channel post, a second bar having a vertically disposed notch near one end thereof, said notch in the second bar being seated upon the two closely spaced rivets in the channel post, means for removably securing the ends of the bars opposite the notched ends to the other post, a channel bar having the channel directed downwardly with the upper margin of the sign projecting upwardly into the channel of the last mentioned bar, and means for removably attaching the last mentioned bar to the posts.

4. A demountable frame assembly for displaying a sheet material sign, said frame including a pair of vertically extending posts, each of the posts having a pair of parallel side portions having an opening therebetween, a plurality of rivets extending through the side portions, one of the rivets in each post being located in spaced relation to two other rivets arranged one above the other and in close relation to each other, a plurality of cross bars, one of said cross bars having diagonally disposed notches in each end thereof, said notches being positioned on said one rivet in each post, the diagonal notches preventing removal of the bar when the posts are parallel to each other and in fixed spaced relation to each other, a second bar having a vertically disposed notch in each end thereof, said notches in the second bar being seated upon two closely spaced rivets, a third bar extending across the top of the sign, and means for removably attaching the third bar to the posts.

5. A demountable frame assembly for displaying a sheet material sign according to claim 4, wherein the bar having the vertically disposed notches forms the intermediate bar and wherein the sign rests upon the intermediate bar and projects between the parallel side portions of the posts.

6. A demountable frame assembly for displaying a sheet material sign according to claim 4, wherein the bar having the vertically disposed notches is the intermediate bar and consists of a channel bar, the channel being upwardly directed so that the sign is positioned in said channel. i

7. A demountable frame assembly for displaying a sheet material sign according to claim 4, wherein the third bar consists of a channel bar having the channel directed downwardly and straddling the top of the sign.

8. A demountable frame assembly for displaying a sheet material sign, said frame including a pair of vertically extending posts, each of the posts having a pair of parallel side portions having an opening therebetween, a plurality of rivets extending through the side portions, one of said rivets on each post being located in spaced relation to another rivet, said rivets being arranged one above the other, a plurality of cross bars, one of said cross bars having diagonally disposed notches in each end thereof, said notches being positioned on one rivet in each post, the diagonally disposed notches preventing removal of the bar when the posts are held parallel to each other and in fixed spaced relation to each other, a second bar having a vertically disposed notch in each end thereof, said notches in the second bar being seated upon the remaining rivets, a third bar extending across the top of the sign, and means for removably attaching the third bar to the posts.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,858,152 Hallowell May 10, 1932 2,064,127 Schneider Dec. 15, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS 334,400 France Oct. 21, 1903 

